Swearing?!

[JoeFan4ever]

I heard somewhere that Joe swears in one of the Casefiles. Is that true? If so, which one? 

[SDLagent]

Multiple references to Joe "swearing" or "cursing" are made throughout the series. It's left up to the reader's imagination as to just what word he uses.

[JoeFan4ever]

But, do either of the boys actually use it? Where we read what they say? That's what I meant. Sorry for confusing you.

[SDLagent]

Not in any of the Casefiles books,  no.

[MacGyver]

The most the Hardy Boys Casefiles ever say are something like "Joe swore softly" or such. No curse words are ever written out. (And not to excuse it, but the main time I recall a line like that is when Iola was killed in a car bomb.) I'd rather not have any swearing going on at all, but at least this is a way to show that The Hardy Boys, while still admirable role models, are also human and have their faults. And this leaves it up to the reader to determine what words they might be using, rather than writing out choice words that some may not find offensive whereas others might find very offensive.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

The most the Hardy Boys Casefiles ever say are something like "Joe swore softly" or such. No curse words are ever written out. (And not to excuse it, but the main time I recall a line like that is when Iola was killed in a car bomb.) I'd rather not have any swearing going on at all, but at least this is a way to show that The Hardy Boys, while still admirable role models, are also human and have their faults. And this leaves it up to the reader to determine what words they might be using, rather than writing out choice words that some may not find offensive whereas others might find very offensive.

Since the UB's have come out there seems to be swearing in them--I mean they're actually writing the words out. Why, what's the point?

[tomswift2002]

Since the UB's have come out there seems to be swearing in them--I mean they're actually writing the words out. Why, what's the point?

There's really no reason for Simon & Schuster to be having the words written out.  But Simon & Schuster even had mentions of the boys swearing in the Digest books as early as June 1990 when #102 Terminal Shock came out.  In that book Joe mentions how, when Frank gets mad at his computer, he'll start swearing, but Joe doesn't actually say the swear words.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

There's really no reason for Simon & Schuster to be having the words written out.  But Simon & Schuster even had mentions of the boys swearing in the Digest books as early as June 1990 when #102 Terminal Shock came out.  In that book Joe mentions how, when Frank gets mad at his computer, he'll start swearing, but Joe doesn't actually say the swear words.

I liked it better when they didn't actually say the swear words.    

[SDLagent]

There's really no reason for Simon & Schuster to be having the words written out.  But Simon & Schuster even had mentions of the boys swearing in the Digest books as early as June 1990 when #102 Terminal Shock came out.  In that book Joe mentions how, when Frank gets mad at his computer, he'll start swearing, but Joe doesn't actually say the swear words.

Frank and Joe have been swearing since the 1920s. It just wasn't a swear word then.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

Frank and Joe have been swearing since the 1920s. It just wasn't a swear word then.

What was it then?

[SDLagent]

I was thinking of the times they used the word "nigger" which wasn't considered offensive in the 1920s.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

I was thinking of the times they used the word "nigger" which wasn't considered offensive in the 1920s.

Never heard of it.

[SDLagent]

What planet do you live on? Just wondering.

[Hardy Boys UB Fan]

What planet do you live on? Just wondering.

Earth, US, 2011. 21st century!

[MacGyver]

Well then- all you really need to know is that it is considered a racially derogatory term for African Americans and you should never use it.
(Of course, I have no idea why some black rappers choose to use the word in their music, but anyway...)
   You have to understand that in the 1920s, though not everyone was necessarily a racist or agreed with "how things were", people did commonly use the word. And in the instances that I've seen Frank and Joe use it (so far, just once in the original text version of The House on the Cliff - they were using it as part of a common phrase of the time, apparently meaning that they were caught unawares. It was not necessary, but I imagine that Leslie McFarlane and Edward Stratemeyer didn't think anything of it at the time because that is what was commonly accepted at that time. It doesn't make it right but there you have it. And in Frank and Joe's defense, at least in this one case, I really don't think they were trying to be racially demeaning- it was probably just a common phrase they had heard, and like the rest of their society, they didn't think anything of it.